Happy Sunday, siblings. Having a relaxed day at home. Littlun' had his best friend over last night, you know, because they don't spend nearly enough time together on the soccer pitch two days a week plus every other weekend except this one plus then with Littlun spending last week and this week with their family during the day. Anyways, it was kind of fun just listening to them jabber on and get rowdy and try not to get rowdy. It reminded me so much of all the sleepovers I had with my friends. It was rather hysterical. At one point, well after bedtime, I heard the telltale signs of iPods from the front room and I called down to them from my room without even walking to the stairs. I heard BT (Littlun's bestie) say, "how does she DO that?" and I just started laughing, reminded of all the times it just plain creeped me out when my parents would bust me and my girlfriends for all manner of silliness without being anywhere near us.

Lynne~ The way I interpreted what they all said, it felt like MORE than that scene to me. I think everyone expects it to end there and they all knew that that was a scene that had to be included. But, the emphasis given makes it feel like an extra special gift that we won’t expect. But, I like the way it could be included with that scene, as I thought you meant. I had seen them as two distinct things, but including that “visual valentine” with that scene would just make it quite perfect in my opinion. Sounds like a fun day out with the boys and I’m sure Sean will be very excited to hear all the details of the RACQ!

Susie~ It’s okay. You know this crew completely understands how hectic rl can be. Hmm, I’m betting the Monday Ellen you are seeing advertised is a rerun. They aren’t doing promo this early on and we would definitely have known about it ahead of time if they were.

Hi, Y'all!! No mega-post today because I REALLY want to write some this afternoon, and if I start doing a mega-post it won't happen. So... AND *MWAH!* The Fundraiser for Little Ava-Bug yesterday was a HUGE success!! We raised over $13,000 dollars for LLS and AVA!! I was one pooped chic by the time I got home, though! I had a bite of protein, took a nap, and headed back out for my Grill&Chill life group which was very relaxing. Today was AWESOME at church and I had a great lunch with a couple of girlfriends afterwards. I really should be taking advantage of the sun and lay out by the pool, but I have writing on the brain instead. So... I'm off to do just that! Have a wonderful lazy Sunday afternoon! I'll be back to check on Y'all later!

CARYN~~ O.M.G.!!!!! That interview with Rob... O.M.G.!!!! The script... The kitten... Running down the street with someone chasing it with a bag trying to put it back in! OOOOOPPPPS!!! BUT... Who? How many? Vision? or Real? O.M.G.!!! I do hope the execs are not toooo furious. But, what are they gonna do? Fire him?

SUSIE~~ I have started a scene... barely. I do have the rough outline down on paper, though.

I haven't been up to much today, mostly because I had an uncomfortably night of sleep (you'll see why later).

I have a basic plan for tonight: I'm gonna finish up some Italian chicken past thing I made last night (very good, BTW), try a fish TV dinner I bought, and watch some motorsport highlights shows. get back on line when they're over, play some GT4, catch a nap, watch Married with Children (if I don't over sleep, NBD), and catch an episode of Hitler's Bodyguard, this one being about guys who tried to snuff Hitler by trying to blow up his personal plane with stolen British made HMX plastic explosive hidden in champagne bottles. Then it'll be off to work, and in case they don't have work, I have some stuff I'll bring to work on.

Also, one of my mom's cats had 3 kittens this morning, though one of them was born on my bed, so I have to get my sheets and stuff washed, which sucks, but at least no other damage was done. All three are mostly white with black dots on them, and seem to be doing fine.

Hope all of you are well. I spent a worthless day yesterday lying in bed much of the day, very queasy and sick with stomach issues and a bad headache. The headache started Friday at work and I thought it was related to my least favorite monthly female visitor (sorry, Sean!), but am unsure where the other symptoms came from. Bummer of a way to spend a Saturday, but I was thankful that hubs was around to entertain the kids. I woke up enough to come downstairs for dinner and a movie (chicken noodle soup for me, pizza for them) while we watched "We Bought a Zoo". It was a sweet, heartwarming, and funny movie, and reminded me why I still love Matt Damon, after all these years.

Marielle~ How are things going, and how was your weekend? Keep us posted on your thoughts about the house. I tend to agree with Susie....having a house that needs a lot of work can be such a strain financially, emotionally, and physically (if you plan to do a lot of the work yourselves), so it's definitely something to consider very carefully.

Sean~ Congrats on the birth of the kittens, but sorry one was born on your bed. Ewwww. Are you working the daytime shift at the library? I wondered if you've had to adjust your sleeping schedule so you can sleep at night to be ready for work during the day.

Missp~ Congrats on the success of Ava's Fundraiser--that's great news! You post about her on Facebook pretty frequently, right? How is she doing? I hope you have a chance to recover from your busy weekend, hon. Keep us posted on the medical report for your Mom, and we'll keep her in our thoughts and prayers--that her surgery doesn't coincide with the dates of your much needed and well deserved beach trip.

Ginnie~ We miss you, hon, and are sorry that Word or Windows 7 ate your post. How was your visit with family?

Caryn~ That's so neat how some friends just can't spend enough time together, and I'm glad your son has one of those. I also love how kids don't realize how loud they can be, when they're trying not to be loud....and they always seem surprised that we parents can hear them. I, too thought the "visual valentine" might be something extra, although it could be a montage tied up within the scene of Bella letting down her shield, as Lynne described. It just seems like nearly everyone has referred to it in some way in these recent interviews, and that it coud be attributed to Bill Condon, so that I also thought it might be a "new" scene. Thanks for sharing all the Robcrack today....definitely worth a double, or even triple post. I knew you would love the biceps, and I've really enjoying the watchporn as well. I've watched a couple of the videos from Comic Con and hope to have time to watch a few more over the next few days. Loved Josh's interview with the trio, as always. The ribbons to honor Gisela were a really nice touch.

Lynne~ Who enjoyed looking at those cool cars more....Hubby, or Little Man? The church dinner at your MIL's sounded delicious, and I know I crave a good steak every once in a while. I. too hope we don't see some "actual" battle at the end of BD Part 2, but we know how Summit loves to ramp up the action and tension, as they did in Volterra at the end of New Moon.

Susie~ Silly girl....you're not neglecting us. You need to spend as much time with the kids while you can, especially before they head back to school and real life (for your daughter) this fall. I believe you only have one more week of teaching before you have a well deserved month-long break, right? I'm sure you and Mary will enjoy your annual trek to the cabin next week. How long will you stay, and will you spend time relaxing, reading, visiting, watching movies, walking, etc.? I'm glad to hear things have smoothed over somewhat as far as the cabins are concerned, but am still sorry your SIL treated your parents and the rest of the family in that manner. Regarding painting....I'm not really handy, and painting is about the only thing I can do. I painted my son's room a darker blue than I painted when we first moved in seven years ago called Huckleberry, by Sherwin-Williams. He seems happier and I think he thought the very pastel blue original color was a little too babyish for him. There were scuff marks everywhere and a fresh couple of coats of paint seem to brighten and clean everything up nicely. I hope to repaint my daughter's room next; we're just trying to decide on a color. Enjoy your raspberry pie!

I could type a 6 inch rant about how I hate Mondays but you all know that already so there is no use…Anyway today will be even worse because it will be incredible busy… I have a dentist appointment, we are going to look at 2 more houses and I’ve got a big pile of laundry laying around the house waiting to be washed…

I had a whole post typed yesterday but then a documentary started and I forgot to post it… smart huh?Anyway I didn’t save it so I start over now…

Tonise, when are you leaving for your beach trip??? Will you be able to post? I loved how during ComicCon the complete cast danced around giving away too much…I think it must be very difficult for them to not just spill… they are obvious very proud of what they created…

Lynne, it’s very unfair of you to tease us with your fanfic while we can’t read it yet!!! I hope you finish it soon… I do love canon fics…

Sean, it was so funny, because on other boards and fansites, a lot of people picked up on Kris’s new look… many people noticed they looked bigger… we all concluded that it was either just filling out a bit more or padded bra…but some people blamed Rob for it…

Caryn, I’m happy you survived ComicCom…I loved the pics with Kris, Rob and MacKenzie, they so could be a little family together…even my mom noticed that MacKenzie looked like she could be their daughter…We are expecting you to spill on all your friend has told you about the shown clips!!!!I think our Ipod lists will match very good… mine is a mixture of celtic muziek to black metal…I meant that this was the first time at ComicCon that Kris and Rob didn’t even try to keep a distance, like with CC09 you could see they weren’t sure how to be around each other in public, as you said the tension was creating lighting but this year it’s the first time I see them just being happy around each other. Their whole body language is directed towards each other, it so bloody sexy to see that. Now you just know Kris wore that too short top and too tight skirt just to taunt Rob…it’s fun to see them so confident around each other…

Happy Lexiversary, Chrissy!!!

Susie, isn’t it lovely when your kids are home from school!!! (no that wasn’t sarcasm)…Don’t worry about me, I’m resilient. Now that the monthly hormonal imbalance is solved I’m in a much better state… still right now I feel like I’m on the brink of making decisions for the rest of my life and that it a bit overwhelming… my colleague/friend calls it the quarter life crisis and apparently we all go through it…I’m actually looking forward to buy a house that is a bit of a project, though financially it will be a bit a stress I love working at a home myself. I love being able to spend whole afternoons with the radio on loudly, singing along with the songs, painting and DIY-ing. That will be a major stress reliever.. As for my health, well I get final verdict this Friday, which scares the “peep” out of me… but that happens every year…

Tracy, I hope you are feeling better… Maybe it was just a short lived stomach bug… “we bought a zoo” was shown in the plane back from New York, I liked that movie. It was so sweet…I loved seeing Matt Damon in a non-action hero role for once…My weekend was just being lazy… hoping that my leg will heal quickly…I need to be in a general state of fitness this Friday as I have a major festival weekend ahead…Please, read my comments to Susie why I love buying a house that needs some DIY…but financially we have to really think things through properly. Today we are going to have a look at two houses that are already done…so maybe I only need to do some painting…

Alright, it’s time to focus on work…See you all tonight, I’ll tell you all how the houses were…

These violent delights, have violent endings...Like fire and gunpowder, they consume what they kiss

I haven't posted today because I've been having a few depression issues (it seems to be going around!) I had two major meltdowns on Saturday over really minor things, and both were in front of my son, which makes me feel bad. I think I have been trying so hard to do a lot of things, primarily a lot in preparation for my book coming out, and I think I'm wearing myself out. Not much I can do about that, though. Things need to be done.

Caryn - maybe it will be more. It will be interesting to see what it is. It does sound good if it had them all in tears, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

Sean - yes, I guess it would wake you up if a cat had a kitten on your bed!

Tracy - I'm sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling well. I've yet to see We Bought a Zoo, but it's on my list of films to see. I love Matt Damon, too. I think Hubby and Little Man enjoyed the cars equally, the only one who didn't was me! It will be interesting to see what Summit do. I didn't have too much of a problem with the fight in New Moon, because it was plausible that would happen, but if this happens in real time, I can't see how it can happen without a lot of people dying, and we know that won't happen. So unless they intend to make the Volturi far more calm and reasonable than they are, I don't think it will work, at least, in my eyes.

marielle - I hope to post some more this week. The reason I'm waiting is because I went to the Fictionators site that Tracy put up the link for and put my fanfic up as a Teaser Monday thing. But you have to put a part of the book up that isn't up on the fic site yet. Unfortunately, I chose a bit from chapter four, so I can't post any more until Teaser Monday is over. I should have picked something from a later chapter!

Lynne: I wasn't asleep, I was trying to go to bed. And I had to throw all my sheets and stuff in the laundry this week, and it doesn't help that I haven't felt like I've been sleeping well recently, either. But the kittens are fine.

Susie and Tracy: I'm not working at the library, I work at an office type place where I'm supposed to do document scanning. I was only visiting the library to pick something up.

Marielle: Believe me, as a guy, I'd know about Kristen's breast, and they've been prominent when she's wanted them to be since late '09/early '10. It mostly depends on her clothes and the fact that her hormones are settling down, which didn't really start to happen until she was about 20 or so.

Everyone: As you can tell by my short responses, I'm pretty tired right now, and I have to be ready for work tomorrow, so I'll be logging off now. I also haven't felt very good recently and I haven't felt like I've had a good night's sleep for nearly a week.

Tonise, so sorry about you and Detective Scott, but it sounds like it wasn’t really what you wanted anyway and now you can move on to finding what you DO want! Good way to look at it…learning experience. They have the fire near my brother’s home contained, but apparently they are talking about…something having to do with smoke….like, the fire would be out but could be smoldering for months. He said he saw a custodian at work wearing a full on protective mask…like…the space suit kind. A lot of people with respiratory problems have been made really ill from the smoke. But, my brother’s home is fine. Thanks for asking. How was your Celebrate Recovery Inventory? Is your parents’ choice to drive about money? Or do they not like to fly? I grew up driving cross country for vacations and I LOVE it…there is so much to see on the way. We would drive for a few hours and find some site along the way, like a cave, or a monument, or a museum, then drive a few more hours before stopping for the night. We saw SO much of the US and that’s “THE way to travel” as far as I’m concerned. And as long as you allow plenty of time, you can get out and walk around a lot so you aren’t just sitting the whole day. But I understand, it’s not for everyone. I’ll pray for your mom about the surgery…are the doctors recommending it? Has she gotten a 2nd opinion? You DO need your beach vacation.

Caryn, that’s the downside to working for salary instead of hourly rate. But at least it sounds like you like your job and your boss isn’t trying to take advantage of you like some bosses do….like they own you because you work for them. Your boss seems to truly appreciate what you do. I hope this change doesn’t cause too many problems for you.

Suzan, I hope the dinner with the new roommate goes well. It sucks that she’s a smoker and it sounds like she’s maybe not respecting the boundaries if you aren’t home. My mom was a smoker and refused to smoke outside when she came to visit, even though I explained to her that I could get a huge fine or evicted if she smoked in my apartment. She insisted it was her right to smoke and people had to accept that part of her if they were her friends/family. Drove me nuts that she didn’t see how hypocritical she was…she didn’t accept their rules in their own homes, Their right NOT to smoke, but they had to accept whatever she wanted to do. But I suppose as long as this new roomie is nice, etc, you can live with the smoking for a few months. There are worse things, I suppose.

Susie, I’m so so sorry about your sister-in-law’s behavior. Some of our friends from Minnesota have a cabin at one of the lakes (couldn’t tell you which one) and we went there one summer…it was a great time. I’m sorry yours was marred by something so…shallow. How can someone be so unwelcoming to family? Was your brother not there? I mean, my house is 9 times out of 10 not company ready, so I’d be horrified if my in-laws just dropped in, but I would never make them stand outside on the porch and not invite them in. But a cabin that you’ve only been in for a few hours or overnight….how messy could it have gotten? So that makes me think that’s not the issue…so I have to wonder at her behavior. How sad for her, though…SHE’S the one losing out on great company, warm people, laughs, etc…SHE’S the one who will be lonely. I’m sorry for the way she treated you, but don’t let her ruin your good memories of the cabin, and the feeling of home away from home. She can’t take those times from the past away, and you can create new memories anywhere. It’s her loss if she doesn’t want to be a part of it. (I should recuse myself…this is coming from someone who is quite happy with the divorce between my BIL and SIL because she was about as warm and inviting as a porcupine and twice as prickly)

Brenda, thank you for eating extra corn for me…I can almost taste it. SO GOOD! Wow…if Kayla made those popsicles….I don’t know whether to be wildly impressed or a bit afraid…or maybe some of both. And a more….graphic version? Sounds like a certain product that someone posted on the FB page a few months back (I can’t remember who now). I suppose it was confusing, me talking about my kids changing schools, AND moving…sorry about that. Just a few more pages now! Yes, the last day of school celebration was a HUGE success. They brought in this guy who works at a castle somewhere to tell the kids all about back in the time of knights and castles and princesses, etc…and he did skits and had the kids help….lots of fun. I’ll have to post some pics on fb. Your niece is so lucky to have people who care so much and will help her. I hope it all goes well for her.

Lynne, how was your son’s first week back at school? How long was his vacation? Your dinner sounded SO good. Filet Mignon is one of my all time favorites! And I love almost anything chocolate! There is a restaurant in Hill City South Dakota that my family went to a couple of times a year. We lived just a few hours away and we made friends with the owners of a motel there…twice a year or so, we’d go for a weekend, or so and stay in this hotel, go to all the sites like Mount Rushmore, Keystone, see Crazy Horse from the road (we never went to it, because you have to pay and at the time there was almost nothing to see…they did NOTHING for something like 40 years on it), Story Book Island, Dinasaur Park, Deadwood…and then we would go out for dinner at The Alpine Inn. It was run by a German lady (her daughter runs it now) and we were some of her first customers when it opened….I think I was 8. She always recognized us when we went back…after a couple of years it became SO popular that you had to be there an hour before they opened the doors or you would have to wait for at LEAST an hour for a table. The ONLY thing on the menu is a Filet Mignon dinner with baked potato, toast, and a salad with Ranch dressing…BUT, because it is the only thing they serve, it’s incredibly well done and she could buy in bulk, so it was cheap. $6 for a steak dinner…I miss it!

Tracy, wow, 8th out of 48 is good even if they had been playing together longer! Congrats to them! My family and friends are all, thank God, safe from the fires. I have several friends and family in different areas where there were fires, but as far as I know, everyone is ok and none of them have lost homes. The fire in my brother’s area has been 100% contained.

Christina, so sorry about your car! Did you leave the top down?

Marielle, it sounds like overwork…you’ve got so much going on, not being happy at your job, trying to find something new, looking for a new house, and then having just been on a large vacation….sure the vacation is fun, but the planning was stressful. It sounds like you need some time where you can focus on yourself and nothing else. Glad you like Toby Keith…he’s so funny. I love his music…”I wanna talk about me!” Brad Paisley is good that way, too…I suggest listening to his song called "Me Neither"....but I am a fan of country music.

Sean, is work busier now? It’s nice that your boss let you stay, even without work to do, We always get sent home. Sorry about the kitten on your bed. I thought your mom didn’t live with you, though? How was one of her cats on your bed? Confused…

Has anyone seen Grayce lately? Did she say anything about being gone?

Hi to everyone I missed!

Thanks to everyone who posted links to videos from the panels and interviews at comic con….I had a great time watching them. So sad about Gisele, but I’m glad they mentioned her before the one panel. I think it would have been awful if they hadn’t. Why in the world did they keep moving the line? It sounds insane! I hope they include the dog bowl scene on the DVD bonus features…I had been looking forward to that scene. I also hope they include the dance off thing….I so want to see that!One week of summer vacation down….only 5 more to go. The kids are already driving me insane. Today wasn’t too bad because it was at least dry this morning so they could play outside. But it’s been crappy weather lately so they have been stuck inside where they can’t run around and really release all that pent up energy…it’s been mostly watching films and doing puzzles, etc. So because of that, they fight even more than usual….who gets to pick the movie, who had that toy first, who was sitting in which chair…gah!!! I wish we could send the rain over to you all who need it! In the weekend, it’s not real bad because we have a car now, so we can go places. Last weekend we went to a park on Saturday when it was nice weather, then Sunday when it rained the whole day, we went to an indoor play gym. Then this past weekend, Saturday it rained the WHOLE day...and it was Mr. Man’s godfather’s 40th birthday celebration…..outside. Fortunately they had tents set up, so it was covered, but it was still wet. Mr. Man slipped in the wet grass…I am so glad I always bring an extra set of clothes for both kids wherever we go. But they got to play with other kids, so it was good. We didn’t get home until 9:45 that night, so they were TIRED when we got home and they slept until 9 the next morning. So we went swimming on Sunday. We wore them out sufficiently and they slept until 8 this morning. Our dishwasher somehow still seems to be leaking, but UNDER the floorboards…so we have someone coming to evaluate the damage on Wednesday. It smells AWFUL…you can tell it’s all rotted out and the floor boards are warped and it’s just disgusting. You step down and water seeps up in between all the cracks, so the floor is sooooo dirty. I will be glad to have everything fixed. Hubs is responsible for the dishes, which he doesn’t want to run the dishwasher (at this point, I don’t understand why….the damage is done. The floor cannot be saved now), so his solution is to just let the dishes pile up on the counter until there’s no room anymore, and then do one load of dishes in the dishwasher….and leave the other 2/3 piled up on the counter for another few days. It’s not helping my mood. I said the heck with it today and did 2 loads of dishes while he was at work and couldn’t say anything, after he did one load this morning. (first in 3 days) I just could not stand it anymore, and how am I supposed to make dinner with zero counter space because it’s all taken up by dirty dishes? Hardly sanitary, either, I might add. Ok, rant over.Nothing else new….that I can think of.

Afternoon, siblings, and happy Monday. Trying to keep caught up after a busy several days. Yesterday was rather a nice bit of break. After BT went home, we had supper and had family movie night. We watched one of my absolute FAVORITE movies, The Princess Bride!! I know it will completely shock you all to find out that I am an absolute freak when I watch that movie, basically reciting the entire film as it happens..."I'll call the Brute Squad." "I'm on the Brute Squad" "You ARE the Brute Squad".... "Mahwage. Mahwage is what bwings us togevah today..." Yep, the classics never go out of style!

Anywho, I had to travel for a training today, so I was home fairly early and got to get online and get everything checked and updated and so on. I was a little bit shocked to see the low-res clip that mad the FB rounds (the 28-second one, not the 1 -minute one) of the CC panel scene was posted on the main page. But, the ladies have a point in that, if it isn't down by now, it's a good bet that Summit knows about it and has decided not to pull it... Granted, I'm in full support of Summit maybe throwing us poor devoted and ardent fans who don't have the time or ability to fly across country for several days a bone and maybe releasing at least a chunk of that there video. Just sayin'. As it's posted (and I know a big chunk of us watched it on FB), I suppose I can at least say I am a massive fan of what the vampire vision looks like, and also the way Bella's... newborn lack-of-focus looks. I thought both looked very cool. And, I have to say, I know it was temporary, but I loved what I could hear of the music in the background... the tone and vibe of the song fit, even if I couldn't hear the lyrics.

Tonise~ I’m so happy that the fundraiser was SOOO successful. Sounds like a wonderful day of helping friends. Yeah, I was right there with you, thinking AAALLLLL about all those little kittens trying to escape their bags. I do have to laugh because I’m pretty sure Summit execs just expect it from him at this point. Gods love the man, his filter runneth over and he often forgets when he’s supposed to clean it.

Sean~ Well, here’s to new life, I suppose. I do hope you can find homes for them, or are they to become part of the extended family?

Tracy~ Ugh, sounds like a rough weekend. Well, I’m glad you got some family time in, at least. Mmmm, yes, the watchporn was absolutely immaculate. Granted, it still completely throws me off that Rob, as a right-hander, wears his watch on his right hand. Is there nothing about that man that is not wonkily adorkable?

Marielle~ Those are the kind of Mondays when you just want to crawl back under the covers and wait for Tuesday. Hopefully at least the house-hunting went well. Yes, I never can seem to get over the borderline-creepy resemblance McKenzie has to Rob&Kris. It honestly has to be just a little eerie for them, don’t you think. True. I suppose I kind of see a similarity to last year. Granted, I think last year they were a little more guarded because all anyone wanted to talk about was “their” wedding and “their” honeymoon. But, it is true. This year, there was kind of a sense of… release. I do wonder how much of it comes with the end of The Saga. I mean, they’ve kind of been driving towards these moments for the last 4 years and now they’re here and it has to feel kind of like getting to the last plateau before you reach the mountaintop, you know?

Lynne~ Hmm, it does seem to be going around right now, doesn’t it? It’s definitely true that you’ve had a lot on your plate of late and that can magnify emotions for sure. Just don’t forget to take care of you while you are taking care of everything else. That is the most important thing. Yes, I am the same. I’ve honestly approached each film with deliberately low expectations (at least as low as I can reasonably make them) so that I’m pleasantly surprised versus totally crushed. It’s worked fairly well (with the possible exception of Eclipse, for which expectations could not possibly be low enough to avoid disappointment). I suppose the upside has also been that, no matter how disappointed I might find myself, there are always things about the films (sometimes many many many things) that make me happy.

Jaclyn~ Glad you are able to catch up on ComicCon. It really gave us some fabulous stuff. We’re just happy to see your words, of course.